So I see One can buy Red Star pulletts 17 weeks old at McMurrays. Compleated vaccinated and debeaked. What is debeaked? and why would debeaking be done? I haven't heard of it before this but of course I don't know very much :-(( Thanks!
What is Debeaked?
Debeaking is when they permanently cut a significant portion of the chicken's beak off so that they will not cannibalise each other in very close confinement.
It is pretty awful and not something anyone with pet, free range or even adequately housed chickens would want done
How can they eat if they don't have thier full beak? Sounds aweful for the poor hen.
Is this a common practice in commercial chicken houses? It is the only slightly older variety I found for sale at McMurrays and it seems to be the only way they sell them.
Yes it is common in those conditions, since the poor birds are so crowded and stressed that they are likely to pick at each other.
I think it is most common among commercial layers since they are so closely confined and are kept for about one year before slaughter. Meat birds are slaughtered at 12 weeks and are usually on the floor, rather than caged, so they are less likely to develop the habit. And the poor birds do have to learn how to "shovel" their crumble in...It is horrible.
Poor little things!
I did look at the link and opened some of the Google immages. It goes it show you ignorance is bliss. I had no idea such a thing even exhisted and was done. I had never seen a picture before of a chicken like this.
I was really interested in the 17 week old hens from McMurray before I realised. I can't really understand what or why they are doing this. Ok, so I now get that commercial chicken farms do this (or at least some) but I doubt that commercial farms are going to buy extra hens at $12.95 from McMurrays. So it has to be geared at the hobby/backyard keeper. But they are not going to sell there. I was thinking of getting two hens and trying out novice chicken keeping and that sounded great to me until you guys explained the debeaking. But this is not what I want. I would feel very badly each time I looked at them so that idea is not going to work for me.
It is expensive but you can buy adult hens from independent breeders. If you look up the breeds you are interested in, there are clubs for most breeds which can guide you to individual sellers. For example I got my first Jersey Giants from Maria's Jersey Giants in Indiana.
In terms of buying Day Old Sexed Chicks and raising them to laying age - it's not really that much of an extra expense to buy older ones especially if you only want two or three of them. You get to skip the brooder/heat lamp stage too!
I think if you told the Breeder how important temperament and friendliness is they would work with you. I believe Golden Comets lay an egg or two a week more, but I still love my Buff Orpingotns the best! They think their place is on my feet or lap, they talk non stop, are always "helping" me in the yard and appreciate any treat I give them. A friend has Jersey Giants and she is absolutely crazy about them!
I too love Buff Orpingtons but they are very chatty and might not make the best undercover chickens.
The main expense of buying older chickens is the shipping.
Cost was or is not the big factor for me, I mean two or three adults or young near adults is just not going to cost that much although it sounds like a lot compaired to the price of chicks. I thought the two would be a good start in terms of getting used to them and not starting with a big batch so it would be easier. Only an idea on my part. One of the types I had picked at McMurrays was the Red Sexs Links anyway. But the debeaking part has now nixed that idea for me.
Yes, quiet would be best :-))
If you want a nice dual purpose breed that lays a lot of large eggs (though not as many as sex-link hybrids or leghorns) it is hard to beat a Rhode Island Red. They are not as cuddly as BOs, maybe. The roosters can be a little uppity, but the pullets/hens are very nice. And because they are common, the are easy to find. They even come as bantams.
There is also a related "breed" called the "Production Red" which lays a lot of eggs, but isn't considered as desirable.
The nice thing about raising chicks is they tend to imprint on you and are more likely to be friendlier. I have a huge RIR pullet who is always underfoot and her sister talked to me non-stop (which is why she is at ZZ's...I am a covert chicken owner). I also have a Cuckoo Marans "Marie" who is unusually friendly, at least in my experience of Marans. She has a whole range of vocalisations and follows me everywhere. They were all hand raised from eBay eggs I hatched.
The only time my hens are really noisy is when they lay an egg....and oddly, the noisiest have been the Buff Orpingtons....they really anounce it. Other DG BO lovers have reported the same thing.
The quietest breed I've had is the Black Australorp...another very good layer and very gentle. They were developed from Orpingtons and are less fluffy but very sweet. The breed description says they are quiet...and they really are. Haystack also thought they were the quietest.
Ok, not looking at the so-called dual purpose. I know you can eat any of the chicken breeds and get eggs from any. But not going to be dressing and eating my own chicken unless I get hatching eggs off e-bay and then end up with males. But yesterday I looked up how to slaughter and gut a chicken. Didn't seem very easy to me. I am not squeemish so the blood wouldn't bother me. Just wasn't sure I would get all the feathers off and get the innards out correctly. I really would rather stick to store bought nicely ready to cook chicken.
So my interest is in the lots of egg layers. Really interested in the olive or blue eggs and the brown egg breeds. I also have been looking lots at the eggs offered on e-bay and was very taken by some of the super dark brown egg breeds. I have so much to learn.
Ok, why is the Production Red considered less desirable? I am not looking for exhibition chicks, just eggs. Quiet would be nice and friendly too. A mean chicken would be chicken stew around here quickly. I have had many different animals my entire life and have never had any use for anything mean.
I think Production Reds are really just Rhode Island Red lines crossed with similar breeds (e.g. New Hampshires) that were developed purely for egg laying, instead of for type and show. I think chicken fanciers don't like them because they may be sold as pure bred RIRs and so dilute the breed.
If you are interested in preserving an endangered heritage breed (not that RIR are very endangered, although almost all dual purpose might be considered endangered) or wanted to show chickens you would not want a Production Red. But if all you want is a good egg layer, I would think they would be fine.
Here is one hatchery's description:
Layers - A smaller bird that will lay between 250 - 280 eggs per year. They will begin to produce at 5 months of age and will continue for three to six years. In reality, the first year of production is the best and there is a decline in production after the first season. You can choose between brown and white egg layers. The Leghorn is the best of the white egg layers however they can flighty and high-strung. Other breeds laying white eggs include Minorcas, Anconas, and the California Whites. The Production Red is the best of the brown egg layers. This hybrid bird is a cross between Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire. Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshires are good brown egg layers. The Sex-links are very productive brown egg layers.
The Red Sex Links are one of my first choices in the brown egg layers. I liked what McMurrray said about them and it seemed they were one of the best for lots and lots of eggs. I really would prefer colored eggs over white. Its just a personal thing. I figgure if I get my own eggs they might as well be anything but white.
New Hampshires are another breed I picked at McMuirrays, they seem to say they are ever better at egg production than the more common Rhode Island Reds.
I have both RIR and NH and they seem very similar in terms of laying...both lay large to very large, light brown eggs and, after about 3 months of laying, they seem to lay about 5 a week. Buff Orpingtons also lay light brown eggs, some very large ones. They may not lay quite as many, but they seem very steady...although I think they are more likely to go broody than a RIR.
I believe the NH was originally bred to be a better meat bird than the RIR, but I think it is probably stain dependent.
If you want a quiet, very dark brown egg layer, the Cuckoo Marans is dependable and not too hard to find. The Black Copper Marans is supposed to lay an even darker brown egg, but I have had Cuckoo Marans that laid eggs every bit as dark as most BCMs. CMs can be a bit shy, but as I said, my current pullet, Marie, is incredibly friendly.
Welsummers also lay dark brown eggs, not the chocolate brown of CMs, but a sort of dark copper brown. They are very nice birds, lay very large eggs and are not tempermental.
Delaware and Barnevelder are both reported to lay dark or rich brown eggs, but in my experience they both lay more of a medium brown. This may be because I haven't gotten the best lines....I am still looking for a Delaware that lays very large to jumbo, rich brown eggs...which is what the literature claims.
Wow, you have some great egg layers there. They all sound wonderful.
I am afraid I find almost all the breeds fascinating...so I try them all:0)
Strombergs Hatchery---which is an old established one, offers bantam RIR...of course, unless you order eggs you will have to order too many and they don't usually sex bantams anyway.
http://www.strombergschickens.com/stock/bantams.php
I thought about Bantams as they are small and therfore need less space. But the eggs are too small too. Looking for at least medium eggs, hopefully large eggs.
It does take two to three bantam eggs to equal a large standard....
I need to quit reading all the recommendations for Rita, my "want" list of chickens is growing and growing.... LOL
How handy, a link to Stronberg too, off to look, not shop :-(
I started off with my lurking here not having even the sligtest idea what breeds of chickens I might like. I am gradually learning alittle and seeing were my interest lay so what I should be concentrating on. The Red Sex links are really high on my list.
Rita, This board is the best! People here have been so helpful and answered every idiotic question I've asked - with kindness and a sense of humor.
Just to further confuse the issue, I might add the Ameraucana to the recommended list. They are calm, friendly, fairly quiet, lay about five blue/green eggs a week and I've only had one go broody. The eggs range in size from medium to extra large. They are also rather endearingly funny-looking.
I have no idea of what the actual Ameraucana chickens really look like. I always see pictures of the eggs. I do like the idea of blue green or olive eggs though.